Louisville Police Have Pattern Of Excessive Force And Discriminatory Stops, Federal Probe Finds

The DOJ says Louisville’s local government and police have agreed to resolve their unlawful and discriminatory practices by signing a consent decree with the federal government and assigning an independent monitor to keep track of the department.

The investigation, conducted by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, cited unreasonable use of police dogs and tasers and unjustified neck restraints as some examples of how the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) used excessive force.

The DOJ also found LMPD “unlawfully discriminates against Black people in its enforcement activities,” citing police use of racial slurs about Black residents and a practice of an aggressive style of policing against Black people.

The probe said LMPD conducts searches based on invalid warrants and unlawfully executes search warrants without knocking and announcing their presence—a finding reminiscent of the death of Taylor, who was shot and killed by LMPD after officers forcibly entered her home.

Leaders within LMPD “endorsed and defended” officers’ unlawful conduct, with supervisors overlooking or defending the use of excessive force and unjustified no-knock entries, the investigation found.

DOJ officials said they used data from LMPD and the Louisville government, thousands of hours of body-worn camera footage, internal documents and interviews with LMPD officers, Louisville employees and community members to arrive at their findings.

This is a developing story and Forbes will continue to update it.